Several Riders with courage and commitment to the cause of equality in the family court system of Pennsylvania will be riding their bicycles from Philadelphia, PA to Washington, D.C. in protest to the numerous injustices perpetrated against Fathers and their children in the Family Court System.

Along their route they will be stopping in Harrisburg, PA on July 21st to Lobby the support of several pieces of introduced Legislation to correct these inequalities and to protect a Fathers relationship with his children after separation or divorce.

"The state's current 'best interest of the child' standard is too often based on outdated, inaccurate or stereotypical views of parenting in our society and the relationship that each parent has with a child," Belfanti said. "Under my legislation, the goal in every child custody case would still be finding an arrangement that represents the best interest of the child, but we would start from a presumption that joint custody represents that best interest and work from there, not the other way around."

Belfanti stressed that the legislation does not mandate joint custody or any other type of custody arrangement, nor any specific division of physical custody. Courts would still have wide discretion in deciding final custody arrangements.

"This joint custody presumption is a guide, a starting point, but not a straitjacket," he said. "It does not require shared parenting, nor does it reduce or eliminate protections against unfit or violent parents. It simply instructs the courts, when possible and appropriate, to maximize exposure of the child to each parent and to recognize that fit parents who have a desire and ability to share responsibility for custody and care of their child after a separation or divorce have the right to do so." More than 30 other states already have some form of a joint custody rebuttal provision in place, he said.

"The impact that a single-parent household has on a child can be startling," he said. "For instance, about 63 percent of teen suicides, 90 percent of homeless or runaway children, 71 percent of high school dropouts and 85 percent of youth in prison come from fatherless homes," Belfanti said. "Both mothers and fathers are an important part of a child's life. In cases where both are willing – and able – to provide custody and care for a child after a separation or divorce, that is the position from which the courts should start, as well."Bill would introduce joint custody presumption in Pa. child custody law

It took over ten years to finally make contact with my oldest son. Getting to know the young man, who used to be my 9-year-old twerp, has been an indescribable experience!

Due to 10+ years of extreme alienation, my second son was nervous to meet with me, at first. It didn't take long for his curiosity to overcome his fear, and now he calls me on the phone & emails me, quite often.

My third son has learned much about missing children/persons & his young life has been forever touched by my search for the 2 brothers he didn't even know. It was a joyous occasion when he finally got to meet both of his big brothers!
~Answered Prayers~

Information

This is probably quite a controversial question. After all, most of the people I post about has a loved one who is missing without consent.

A parent who adopted their child, signed 'the' paper. They gave permission to allow someone else to raise this child.

Adoption is an issue I have grappled with for quite some time. How dare a person who adopted their child out compare their situation to mine.

Yet as I read about the deception and confusion, in the adoption industry, I question my perhaps too harsh judgements...

Is an adopted child a missing person too?
You decide.

Walk thru the smokescreen and read what it's really like Surviving Adoption Loss from the natural mom's side of the story.Surviving Adoption Loss

BSE adoptee, I was neither "scooped" nor "snatched", but abandoned freely. I am working on coming to terms with that. This is a part of that work.
L'enfant du peche

My son paid over $26,000.00 in child support to his ex and was not ever allowed to see his children. Together he and I paid over $45,000.00 in attorney fees to fight this wrongful adoption.HERE IS THE TRUTH

The majority of society I have spoken to about adoption chose to see it as a beautiful act of love, apparently ignorant of the ugly truth lurking under all the gloss.
Living In The Shadows

She asked questions about me, constantly, until the people who adopted her, feeling insecure, told her a lie.....that I was dead. For years she searched for a grave.MotherhoodDeleted